Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Empire State Realty Trust from “sell” to “hold.” However, analyst sentiment remains negative overall: MarketBeat reports a consensus “sell” rating and a $5.00 price target.
• Other recent research actions included Wells Fargo cutting its target to $5.00 and assigning “underweight,” while Citigroup lowered its target to $5.00 and kept a “neutral” rating.
• ESRT reported quarterly EPS of $0.20 on revenue of $193.05 million. The stock opened at $5.29, within a 52-week range of $3.93 to $7.53.

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ESRT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Empire State Realty Trust from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Empire State Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their price target on Empire State Realty Trust from $5.75 to $5.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $5.00 price target on shares of Empire State Realty Trust in a report on Monday, September 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire State Realty Trust has an average rating of "Sell" and a consensus price target of $5.00.

Empire State Realty Trust Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:ESRT opened at $5.29 on Friday. Empire State Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $3.93 and a 1-year high of $7.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4.54 and a 200 day moving average of $5.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $916.72 million, a PE ratio of 132.41 and a beta of 1.41.

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $193.05 million for the quarter. Empire State Realty Trust had a return on equity of 0.13% and a net margin of 0.30%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Empire State Realty Trust will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Empire State Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC grew its holdings in Empire State Realty Trust by 64.0% in the first quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 9,058,860 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $47,106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534,376 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Empire State Realty Trust by 12.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 7,787,585 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,384,000 after acquiring an additional 881,649 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 11.3% in the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 1,434,267 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,458,000 after purchasing an additional 146,070 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Empire State Realty Trust by 32.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,358,330 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,063,000 after acquiring an additional 332,810 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Empire State Realty Trust by 56.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 712,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,703,000 after buying an additional 255,804 shares during the last quarter. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Empire State Realty Trust Company Profile

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc is a self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office, retail and multifamily properties in New York City and the surrounding metropolitan area. Its portfolio is concentrated in Manhattan and includes properties serving businesses, residents, retailers and visitors.

The company's landmark asset is the Empire State Building, which it operates as a mixed-use office, retail and tourist destination. Empire State Realty Trust also manages the building's public observatories, offering visitors views of New York City, and provides leasing and property-management services across its portfolio.

Empire State Realty Trust was formed in 2011 and became a publicly traded company in 2013.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.